Trump says Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks will begin immediately following call with Putin
Pope Leo XIV, JD Vance talk Ukraine peace efforts
Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Vice President JD Vance met at the Vatican on Monday ahead of a flurry of U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to make progress on a ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said Monday that Russia and Ukraine will "immediately" begin ceasefire negotiations after what he described as an "excellent" call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that lasted more than two hours.
Trump also spoke with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in hopes of making progress toward a ceasefire.
Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks will begin following call with Putin, Trump says
What they're saying:
"The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of," Trump said in a social media post. The conversations came after the White House said the U.S. leader has grown "frustrated" with both leaders over the continuing war in Ukraine.
After the call, Putin said Russia was ready to continue discussing an end to the fighting, but he indicated there was no major breakthrough in what he termed a "very informative and very frank" conversation with Trump. Putin said the warring countries should "find compromises that would suit all parties."
"At the same time, I would like to note that, in general, Russia’s position is clear. The main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this crisis," the Russian president said.
The backstory:
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, amid Kyiv’s bid to join NATO that he cast as a major threat to Russia. Putin expected a quick victory, but was met by steadfast Ukrainian resistance and a flow of Western weapons.
Over the last three years, under the Biden administration, the U.S. led efforts to isolate Russia. But President Trump, who pledged during his campaign to end the war on his first day in office, has preferred a direct approach, engaging Putin directly while publicly sparring with Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy met with Trump's vice president, JD Vance, and top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in Rome on Sunday, as well as European leaders, intensifying his efforts before the Monday calls.
Putin recently rejected an offer by Zelenskyy to meet in-person in Turkey as an alternative to a 30-day ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including Washington.
Dig deeper:
Presidents Trump and Putin spoke for two hours on Monday starting at 10 a.m., the Associated Press reported.
Following the call, Putin reportedly said he was ready to work toward ending fighting in Ukraine, that Moscow is in favor of a "peaceful settlement" and that compromises would need to be found to suit both parties. He also described the conversation with Trump as "frank and meaningful."
The White House did not immediately provide its own account of the call.
File: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on the phone with Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017. (Pete Marovich/Pool via Bloomberg)
What they're saying:
President Trump posted about the planned calls on his social platform Sunday.
"The subjects of the call will be, stopping the ‘bloodbath’ that is killing, on average, more than 5000 Russian and Ukrainian soldiers a week, and trade," he wrote in all capital letters. "I will then be speaking to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine and then, with President Zelenskyy, various members of NATO. Hopefully it will be a productive day, a ceasefire will take place, and this very violent war, a war that should have never happened, will end. God bless us all!!!"
Russia & Ukraine peace talks end with POW deal
The first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine since the early weeks of Moscow’s 2022 invasion ended Friday after less than two hours, and a senior Ukrainian official said the Russian side introduced new "unacceptable demands."
"His sensibilities are that he’s got to get on the phone with President Putin, and that is going to clear up some of the logjam and get us to the place that we need to get to," Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff offered in a Sunday appearance on ABC's "This Week". "I think it’s going to be a very successful call."
New pope's role?
Pope Leo XIV exchanges gifts with US Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha Vance during a private audience at the Apostolic Palace on May 19, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Photo by Simone Risoluti Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)
Meanwhile:
Monday, Vice President JD Vance extended an invitation to Pope Leo XIV to visit the United States during a meeting at the Vatican.
Vance gave the first American pope a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and the first lady inviting him. The Chicago-born pope took the letter and put it on his desk and was heard saying "at some point," in the video footage of the meeting provided by Vatican Media.
The Vatican, which was largely sidelined during the first three years of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has offered to host any peace talks while continuing humanitarian efforts to facilitate prisoner swaps and reunite Ukrainian children taken by Russia. In the days since his May 8 election, Leo has vowed "every effort" to help bring peace to Ukraine.
The Source: Information in this story came from the president's Truth Social account, ABC's "This Week," previous FOX Television Stations reporting. Josh Boak, Nicole Winfield, and Jacquelyn Martin of the Associated Press contributed.